The present invention relates to an apparatus for use in road work such as paving and, more specifically, to a means for facilitating the pouring and shaping of concrete gutters and curbs.
In recent years, concrete gutters and curbs have been used extensively along roadways, generally replacing curbs formed of stone such as granite and the like. Paving machinery has been developed which travels along the edges or shoulders of such roadways, and simultaneously pours and forms a continuous length of concrete gutter and curb in a single operation. Such paving machinery has proved much more efficient and economical than laying lengths of stone curbing, or using forms and then hand finishing concrete gutters and curbing as in the past.
Adequate drainage of modern highways in both rural and urban areas requires the use of storm sewer systems along the shoulders of the roadway. The development of pre-cast reinforced concrete catch basins, which are lowered as a single unit into trenches dug for the storm sewers, has speeded up construction. Such catch basins created problems in using the continuous method of pouring concrete gutter and curbing machinery described above. A cast iron cap, which supports a grating or manhole cover, is placed over the opening in the catch basins and extends upwardly to the grade of the gutters. It has been found that the scraping and forming means associated with such machinery, which shapes the curbs and gutters, tends to push the cap away from the basin as it passes by, disrupting the entire operation.
Accordingly, it is current practice to remove the cast iron cap which covers the catch basin and allow the paving machinery to pour concrete over a temporary cover such as plywood and the like, placed over the catch basin, or into the open catch basin as the paving machinery passes by, so that it may continue uninterrupted for extended lengths of roadway. This practice results in depositing a quantity of concrete on the temporary cover or in the catch basin, which must be shoveled off of the cover, or out of the basin immediately by hand. The temporary cover may thus be removed, and the cap must be placed in the proper position over the opening in the catch basin. The concrete around the cap is replaced and the surrounding curbing and gutter must be hand finished before the surrounding concrete has hardened.
Considering that such catch basins may be placed at intervals of between 200 to 300 feet along most roadways, it is apparent that the present practices are costly and inefficient, requiring considerable manual labor. The present invention totally eliminates this practice with attendant cost savings.